James Burron

Co-Founder & Partner

CAASA

James co-founded CAASA in response to industry support for a Canadian alternatives association to serve all aspects including: hedge / alternative strategies; private lending; private real estate; private equity; plus emerging areas where Canada is a leader such as digital assets / blockchain and robo-advisors.

Prior to CAASA, James was the Chief Operating Officer of AIMA Canada where his team of three worked with 12 committees to produce 50-60 events per annum across Canada, organize 100+ committee meetings, and increase member numbers over his 7-year tenure from 66 to 164 corporate entities.

James also has experience in research and writing for the CAIA Association as well as serving on CAIA’s Exam Council and as a grader for the Level II portion of the exam.  He also had roles in institutional sales and FoHF structuring in Seoul, South Korea, as a Product Manager at ICICI Wealth Management, and an Investment Advisor at RBC Dominion Securities.  He graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BBA (Finance).

Ian Morley

Chairman

Wentworth Hall Consultancy Ltd

Ian Morley is a successful business Angel and Entrepreneur.

He is the Chairman of Wentworth Hall Family Office and Consultancy, Chairman of Atitlan YRD, an award winning Crypto Multi Manager. Chairman of Salutem Senior Living, Chairman of Regenerative Medical Group, NED at Conister Bank, NED at CF@L, Director of Condor Trade and also holds various Directorships with a range of other companies covering Property, Alterantive Energy, Farmland ,Blockchain and Crypto currencies.

He is the author of Morley’s Laws of Business and Fund Management and one of the leading global figures and pioneers in the development of the Hedge Fund Industry.  He ran one of Europe’s first and oldest Fund of Funds and subsequently helped build one of Europe’s largest privately-owned Fund of Funds.  He has helped build, manage, own, buy, sell and mentor start-up businesses over the last twenty years. He founded and was elected the first Chairman of what is today known as The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA), the world’s only truly global trade association for the Hedge Fund Industry.  He has advised Central Banks, International Regulators and other International Organisations such as the EU and OECD on matters related to Economics, Markets and Regulation.  He is actively involved in Family Office conferences and networks.

His articles have been published in such papers as The London Times, FT, International Herald Tribune and various trade publications. He has appeared frequently on BBC, radio and TV, Sky, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg and various international TV and radio stations.

Ian trained as an Economist at LSE where he was Vice President of the Students Union. He is a member of Gray’s Inn and one of the few fund managers to be accredited as a journalist.

Ian served as a battle medic with a MASH unit and has completed sixteen International Marathons, one hundred and fifty Half Marathons and competed in weight lifting and dancing competitions.  He was the London Theater Correspondent for the Irish Stage and Screen.  He has also written about Running and Building a house in Italy for Italy Magazine.  His other interests include boating, football, politics and philanthropy.  He lives in London with his dog, cat and sometimes his children.

Alex Vallejo Luce

General Partner

Creative Ventures

Dr. Luce is an investor, materials scientist, and company builder. He brings over 15 years of operating and investing experience in the areas of climate change, energy transition, and critical technology areas.

Dr. Luce is currently a General Partner at Creative Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage deep technology investing. He leads the firm’s climate technology focus area and is active across all aspects of Creative Ventures’ business, including deal sourcing, portfolio support, recruiting, personnel management, fundraising, culture, and strategy. He has been involved in over 30 private company financing transactions.

In addition to his work at Creative Ventures, Dr. Luce is passionate about increasing representation of Latino/a investors in the venture capital industry. He is a founding member of VCFamilia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating an inclusive environment for current and future Latinx investors. Dr. Luce has also been an active mentor to emerging venture capitalists for both the National Venture Capital Association and LatinxVC.

Dr. Luce holds a M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from UC Berkeley where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and a Berkeley Chancellor’s Fellow. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from the University of Arizona where he was a National Hispanic Scholar.

Craig Machel

Portfolio Manager, Investment Advisor

Richardson Wealth

Craig encourages his clients to think differently about investing in order to ensure a positive impact in his clients’ financial circumstances. He works beyond traditional portfolio management in the equity and bond markets alone to include conservative and predictable alternative assets, offering more effective diversification and a benchmark that offers protection and peace of mind regardless of market conditions. Craig is a frequent commentator on alternative asset allocations for various media outlets, and a panelist and speaker at industry events.

Francis Sabourin

Portfolio Manager, Investment Advisor

Richardson Wealth

Financial Planner and Portfolio Manager, Francis Sabourin, Director, Wealth Management at Richardson Wealth, was awarded the Distinguished Advisor Award (prix Conseiller émérite) for the year 2016 by the publication Finance et Investissement, highlighting the good performance of his portfolios, both equal to or higher than the benchmarks, while minimizing the risks, thereby focusing on good capital protection. The Advisor of the Year Award is designed to recognize an advisor with at least 20 years of experience, who has marked the financial industry with a unique and remarkable practice. Francis celebrated 25 years of practice on October 5, 2017.

Mark Maybank

Co-founder and Managing Partner

Maverix Private Equity

Mark is a Co-founder and Managing Partner with Maverix Private Equity where he leads the collective team and firm operations. As an active investor, director, advisor and entrepreneur, he has a wealth of experience spanning across multiple industries and geographies.  This includes financial services, technology, health and wellness, media, telecom, oil and gas, services, and advanced manufacturing. With a passion to drive growth and a focus on human elements, Mark strives to scale Canada’s strong and vibrant innovation-based ecosystem.

Prior to Maverix, Mark was the President and COO of Canaccord Genuity Corp, where he led the expansion of their wealth management and international capital markets businesses, positioning the firm as a global leader in commodity and technology financing.

In addition to being EVP, Corporate Development at Itemus Inc., a technology firm, he was also a Senior Technology Analyst with Yorkton Securities, and CFO of ECS Enhanced Cellular Communications, a US-based cellular services company. Mark earned his Chartered Accountant and Chartered Business Valuator designations at Deloitte in the audit, tax, and valuation advisory practices.  Currently, Mark is the Chairman of Fleet Canada Inc. and serves on other boards including Forum Equity Partners and New Latitude Capital. Previously, he served on several boards including Executive Chairman (Advisory) of the Kirchner Group, Knix Wear, Entrec, Empire State Connector, Biologix, Moraine Capital, and Canaccord Genuity Financial.

Mark is an active philanthropist with former roles as Co-Chair of Gold Medal Plates, a Canadian Olympic Foundation program, Special Advisor to the Treasury Board of Canada, Ambassador for World Bicycle Relief, Advisor to SpiderTech cycling, member of the Corporate Advisory Board of the Art Gallery of Ontario and guest lecturer at the Director’s College.  Outside of the office, Mark and his family enjoy an active lifestyle which includes skiing, biking, running, and swimming. They enjoy travelling and spending time in Annecy, France and the Okanagan Valley, B.C.

Mathieu Larochelle

Senior Director, Equity & Alternative Investments

Trans-Canada Capital

Mathieu serves as Senior Director, Equity & Alternative Investments, and has been with TCC since 2019. He is mainly responsible for the ongoing management, monitoring and research of TCC’s public and private equity portfolios, including venture capital fund commitments. He is also heavily involved in the sourcing, underwriting and selection of private equity and venture capital direct co-investments and is a voting member of the External Managers Investment Committee (EMIC). He has nearly 20 years of investment experience covering alternative asset classes. Prior to joining TCC, he was a senior researcher and consultant at a large global investment consulting firm in charge of hedge fund and other alternative strategies for the benefit of institutional clients in North America, Europe and Asia. Earlier in his career, Mathieu worked at a global operational due diligence consultant assisting institutional investors in making investment decisions. Mathieu holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University and he is a CFA and CAIA charterholder.

Ida Khajadourian

Portfolio Manager, Investment Advisor

Richardson Wealth

For over 20 years, Ida has worked closely with Institutions, Family Offices, wealthy entrepreneurs, and high net worth families building trusted relationships and delivering a high level of holistic Wealth Management services.

Ida’s beliefs include the importance of estate planning, tax minimization, capital preservation and evolutionary portfolio construction using alternative strategies to achieve consistent absolute returns with a risk reward-oriented approach.

Ida obtained a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Toronto with specialization in Finance and major in Economics. Ida is a multi award winning Portfolio Manager and obtained her Chartered Alternative Investment Advisor (CAIA®) designation in 2005.

Esther Zurba

Director

Castle Hall – The Due Diligence Company

Esther Zurba is a Director with Castle Hall, responsible for lending subject matter expertise across Castle Hall Diligence’s ongoing product development and client engagements. Esther has more than 20 years of professional experience including over 15 years conducting operational due diligence on global investment managers across all asset classes. Esther joined Castle Hall Diligence in 2012 from Scotia Capital’s Trade Operations and Risk Control group, where she conducted ODD on external asset managers supporting multiple business lines. Prior to joining Scotia Capital, Esther worked with Mapleridge Capital, a Toronto based short-term systematic CTA. Esther holds an MBA from Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, and BA (Hons) from University of Toronto. Esther is also a CAIA charterholder and has been actively involved with the CAIA Association since 2007 in various capacities, including as current co-head of the CAIA Toronto Chapter. Esther is also a member of AIMA Canada’s Legal, Finance & Compliance Committee.

Spencer Clark

Senior Client Relationship Manager

Richter Family Office

Spencer Clark is a Senior Portfolio Manager at Richter Family Office (RFO), providing personalized wealth management solutions to high net worth families. Spencer is also responsible for evaluating and monitoring venture capital and private equity investment opportunities for RFO.

Prior to joining RFO in 2017, Spencer worked for a large global asset manager in their ETF and Index Investments business and began his career in the investment counsel division of a large Canadian bank. Spencer holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, and has earned the CFA, CAIA, and CIM designations.

Senia Rapisarda

Managing Director

HarbourVest

Senia Rapisarda joined HarbourVest in 2014 to focus on partnership and direct co-investments in Canada and to expand HarbourVest’s local presence in the market.

Senia joined the Firm from BDC Venture Capital, where she was responsible for the establishment of a team focused on direct and indirect investments across Canada. Her previous experience includes positions at Nur Energie in London, London Business School, Nomura International, and Salomon Brothers, among other roles.

Senia received a JD (summa cum laude) from LUISS University in Rome in 1987 and a Masters in Law and Economics (Fulbright Scholar) from Columbia University in 1989. An Italian and Canadian citizen, Senia speaks fluent Italian, French, and Spanish.

Robert Guo

President

Sixty Degree Capital

Mr. Robert Guo, President of “Sixty Degree Capital”-Venture Capital investment firm,  a seasoned insightful financial executive, and business leader with international market development skills with extensive experience in public and private companies as Board member, executive and advisor. Former:  Board Director of “China Wind Power” (TSX-V: CNW), and Board Director of “Environmental Waste International Inc. “(TSX-V: EWS). CEO of Goldenmount Capital International Inc. Investment Advisor at “BMO Nesbitt Burns” and Senior Associate at “TD”,  MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University.

Tom Johnston

Canadian Market Head

iCapital Network

Vince Kadar

CEO

Polymath

Vincent guides the growth of Polymath, delivering an innovative and evolutionary software platform for a new generation of capital markets, leaning on his successful 25 years of start-up and scale up experience in financial software and services, as well as telecom software.

Prior to Polymath, Vincent was the CEO of Telepin Software Systems Inc, a fintech software company providing a disruptive digital wallet and payments platform for developed and emerging markets globally (acquired by Constellation Software Inc. (TSX:CSU).

He has also held CTO and founding positions at Airwide Solutions, a software provider in mobile messaging and security software for the telecoms industry (acquired by Mavenir). Vincent is also a member of the Governing Council of the Polymesh Association, an institutional–grade permissioned blockchain built specifically for regulated assets.

Thomas Kalafatis

Managing Partner

Hullwright Advisors

Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University
Advisor, The Investment Industry Association of Canada
Advisor, DealMaker
Past Founder & CEO, Aegis Sports Labs
Past CEO, Independent Trading Group (ITG) Inc.;
Past Managing Director & Global Head, Equity Execution & Prime Services Group, CIBC World Markets Inc.,
Past Vice-President, Toronto Stock Exchange